The government should thoroughly get to the bottom of the manner in which a 1993 statement by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on so-called comfort women came to be.
いわゆる従軍慰安婦問題をめぐる河野官房長官談話がどのように作成されたのか。政府はしっかり解明すべきだ。
At a Thursday meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, current Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he would study whether a government team should be established to examine the process of preparing the Kono statement.
菅官房長官が、衆院予算委員会で、河野談話の作成過程を検証する政府チームの設置を検討する考えを示した。
The Kono statement expressed "apologies and remorse" to former comfort women. However, it has become clear that testimony by 16 former comfort women from South Korea―on which the statement was based―was not backed up by documents or other evidence.
河野談話は、元慰安婦に対する「おわびと反省の気持ち」を表明したもので、１９９３年に発表された。だが、河野談話の根拠となる元韓国人慰安婦１６人の証言に、なんら資料的裏付けがないことは、既に明らかになっている。
Suga also said it was desirable to study the issue from academic points of view. It would thus be necessary to make public the transcripts of the former comfort women's testimony―which are now classified―so historians and other experts can examine their contents.
菅長官は学術的観点からの検討が望ましいとも述べた。歴史学者らが内容をチェックできるよう、機密扱いになっている元慰安婦の証言録は公開すべきだろう。
Thursday's meeting was also attended by Nobuo Ishihara, deputy chief cabinet secretary when the statement was issued in 1993.
委員会には、９３年当時に官房副長官だった石原信雄氏も参考人として出席した。
Ishihara, serving as an unsworn witness, said the government conducted interviews with the former comfort women at the urging of South Korea. "The atmosphere would not allow us to demand investigations to back up their testimony," Ishihara told the committee.
石原氏は、韓国側の強い要請を受け、元慰安婦から聞き取りを行ったと述べたうえ、「証言の裏付け調査を要求できる雰囲気はなかった」と明かした。
As the statement was issued without solid evidence, the Imperial Japanese Army has been viewed by the world as having forced young women to serve as comfort women.
だが、確たる証拠もなく談話を発表したため、日本軍が強制的に若い女性を慰安婦にしたという形で世界に受け止められている。
Statement spawns problems
It is undeniable that the Kono statement has spawned many problems.
河野談話が禍根を残したことは間違いない。
For example, a group of Americans with South Korean roots spearheaded a campaign to erect a statute of a girl symbolizing comfort women last year in Glendale, Calif.
An inscription beside the statue says, "In memory of more than 200,000 Asian and Dutch women who were removed from their homes...to be coerced into sexual slavery..." Such a campaign has started spreading across the United States.
例えば、韓国系米国人が中心となって米国のグレンデール市に慰安婦像が設置され、碑文には「２０万人以上の女性が性奴隷にされた」と記された。米国各地にそうした運動が広がりつつある。
Japan has been unable to wage effective counterarguments against South Korean campaigns, as the Kono statement included expressions that can be construed as acknowledgment by Japan of the forcible recruitment of women.
河野談話の中に強制連行を認めたかのような表現があるために、日本側は韓国側の主張に有効な反論を展開できない。
As a questioner at the committee meeting, Hiroshi Yamada, a lawmaker from Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restration Party), asked Ishihara to clarify whether the government at that time coordinated the wording of the statement with South Korea while preparing it.
委員会で質問に立った日本維新の会の山田宏氏は、談話作成の段階で韓国側と文章をすり合わせたのではないかとただした。
"It can naturally be assumed that the wording was coordinated," Ishihara said, though he said he did not personally confirm it. It is extremely problematic if the core part of the statement―saying that "at times, administrative/military personnel directly took part in the recruitments"―reflected the wishes of the South Korean side.
石原氏は、直接確認していないが、「すり合わせは当然行ったと推定される」と応じた。談話の核心部分である「官憲等が直接これに加担したこともあった」との表現に、韓国側の意向が働いたとすれば極めて問題だ。
The South Korean government, which had not raised comfort women issues for a while after the Kono statement was released, has brought them up again and again in recent years. South Korean President Park Geun-hye is seeking new solutions from the Japanese government.
韓国政府は、河野談話が発表された後、しばらくは慰安婦問題を提起することはなかったが、近年、蒸し返している。朴槿恵(パククネ)大統領も、日本政府に対し新たな解決策を求めている。
The government issued the Kono statement to show "good will" toward South Korea in the interest of building a forward-looking relationship between Japan and South Korea. However, it became clear that its intention was never understood. The government must expedite work to examine the Kono statement and correct errors as soon as possible.
政府は、未来志向の日韓関係を築くために、韓国側に「善意」を示して、河野談話を発表したが、結局は通用しなかったということだ。河野談話の検証作業を急ぎ、誤りを正さねばならない。